The Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) has ruled that President Muhammadu Buhari is eminently qualified to contest the presidential election.
Delivering its ruling on Wednesday, the tribunal said the evidence tendered shows that Buhari was qualified to run for president as read out by Muhammed Garba, the head of the appeal court panel.
The issues are: whether the second respondent was at the time of the election qualified at the time to participate; whether he supplied false information to participate in the said election.
Chairman of the tribunal explained what the law said about the qualification to participate in an election saying the law says a person can contest an election if he is a citizen who has attained 40 years and educated up to at least the school certification level and is a member of a political party.
The lead judge quoted a previous ruling of the court of appeal which defines ‘school certificate level’ or its equivalent as education up to secondary school certificate examination level.
He added that the qualifications Buhari obtained from the military are higher than the secondary school certificate being contended saying the army had dismissed the claims put forward by the PDP regarding Buhari’s certificate and that the petitioners failed to further establish credible grounds on the claim.
“The CV contains impressive credentials that enables the second respondent (Buhari) to contest for the presidential election,” he stated.
“The second respondent has more than secondary school certificate. There is no doubt he is not only qualified but also eminently qualified to contest the election as shown by the evidence presented by the petitioners themselves,” the judge added.
“I am of the strong view that the petitioner did not prove that the second respondent does not possess the necessary qualification to contest for president. I am also of the firm view that the petitioners have failed to prove that the second respondent (Buhari) submitted false information.”
On the ‘errors’ in Buhari’s name on his certificates – disparity between Muhammed and Mohammed, the Tribunal said the second respondent (Buhari) is not the maker of his certificate, and that there is nothing to show that the errors in his names as indicated on the certificate from Cambridge and WAEC implied that they do not belong to him.